Could you make your own Kingdom Hearts inspired game with the same worlds through public domain? Well here's what I found! I went through the worlds of each Kingdom Hearts game and labelled each based on if they're based on a story that is currently public domain

Kingdom Hearts 1

Kingdom Hearts 2

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (I mislabeled Pleasure Island as NO when it is in fact YES)

Lastly Kingdom Hearts 3's worlds

Higher quality versions of these images can be found on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:tixwraekct4gonqso6h7vjyr/post/3lewtuix7vk2r

Edited January 4Jan 4 by GothicSlenderman

a couple things

1: Frozen while it started out as an adaptation of the snow queen it became a very original story so it's in the same position as the lion king

2: Peter Pan isn't fully in the public domain. here in the uk it is not at all

1 hour ago, ocean's rage said:

a couple things

1: Frozen while it started out as an adaptation of the snow queen it became a very original story so it's in the same position as the lion king

2: Peter Pan isn't fully in the public domain. here in the uk it is not at all

Good to know! I was mainly basing this off of America's copyright laws as researching other regions would've taken way too long. But it is interesting to hear Peter Pan's not completely there yet.

You probably already know this, but it's worth mentioning that, similar to the Frozen scenario mentioned above, the Disney versions are still copyrighted, so you can't use characters or worlds created for each movie. You can feature Cinderella, but not Disney's version; you can include Sleeping Beauty, but you can't include its original characters like Maleficent, etc.

A Not-Kingdom Hearts where you visit different fairy tales and other literary works is a neat idea! Although specifically using worlds that appeared in KH or Disney movies, even public domain ones, might give the impression it's a KH clone and nothing more or that it's intentionally trying to deceive buyers into believing it's an actual KH game, as opposed to being its own original thing. I'd recommend combining them with properties not used in KH or Disney movies.

And whatever you do, do not name it anything relating to hearts, kingdoms, or keys. lol

Edited January 5Jan 5 by DestinysUnion

9 hours ago, ocean's rage said:

a couple things

1: Frozen while it started out as an adaptation of the snow queen it became a very original story so it's in the same position as the lion king

2: Peter Pan isn't fully in the public domain. here in the uk it is not at all

Why isn't Peter Pan public domain in the UK?

11 hours ago, GothicSlenderman said:

Good to know! I was mainly basing this off of America's copyright laws as researching other regions would've taken way too long. But it is interesting to hear Peter Pan's not completely there yet.

the way it works means it won't be fully public domain ever so it's not quite a case of yet

3 hours ago, ienzo628 said:

Why isn't Peter Pan public domain in the UK?

J. M. Barrie gifted the rights to Great Ormond Street Hospital meaning they could fund themselves with it. and an amendment in the 80s to the copyright allows them to continue to get royalties